Democratic Party Primary In the August 14 partisan primary, you may vote for candidates from only ONE party for all offices. This page includes ALL Democratic Party candidates for ALL offices on the ballot for Dane County voters. The offices appear in the same order as on the ballot, and you can use these links to jump to a specific race: Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, US Senator, US Representative to Congress (District 2), Wisconsin Senators for odd-numbered seats, Wisconsin Assembly Representatives, Dane County Sheriff and Dane County Clerk of Courts. Governor - Democratic FOUR-YEAR TERM Candidates: Andy Gronik [has withdrawn his candidacy] Matt Flynn Tony Evers Josh Pade Mike McCabe Mahlon Mitchell Kelda Helen Roys Paul R. Soglin Kathleen Vinehout Dana Wachs [has withdrawn his candidacy] ANDY GRONIK Andy Gronik withdrew his candidacy on June 21, 2018. MATT FLYNN Milwaukee, WI 53211 [email protected] forwardwithflynn.com Facebook: Matt Flynn Twitter: @forwardwflynn 1. Please describe your priorities for your term in office and your specific qualifications to effectively address those issues. My top priority is rescinding the disastrous Foxconn deal, because we cannot move Wisconsin Forward again as long as we are paying them $4.5 billion. As a business attorney with over 40 years of experience, taking on some of Wisconsin’s toughest cases, I am uniquely qualified to bring litigation to rescind the contract. My other priorities are raising wages and investing in education, health care, and roads. 2. What will you do to reduce gun violence and keep our neighborhoods and schools safe? Like most Wisconsinites I recognize that citizens have a right to bear arms. However, as a veteran, I know how military-style assault weapons work. There are no logical reasons for civilians to have access to these weapons. We need sensible gun safety laws, including a ban on military-style weapons and universal background checks. 3. Do you support taking advantage of the federal funding to expand Medicaid and cover more people under BadgerCare? Why or why not? Yes, I will accept all federal funding and expand access to BadgerCare. We need to make health care the human right that it is, rather than a burdensome financial decision for families. 4. Racial disparities exist in child poverty rates, educational achievement, infant mortality rates, incarceration rates, and other issues facing Wisconsinites. What will you do to reduce racial disparities throughout Wisconsin? For too long, politicians have come into communities they’re not part of, made promises, and implemented their own solutions. Rarely do they make any profound change. I am not going to be that governor. I will show respect and to listen to what communities are saying. I believe many of my plans will help communities of color (investing in health care and education; raising the minimum wage; reversing Walker’s anti- union laws) by creating the conditions for economic prosperity. TONY EVERS Madison, WI 53703 [email protected] www.tonyevers.com Facebook: Tony Evers Twitter: @Tony4WI 1. Please describe your priorities for your term in office and your specific qualifications to effectively address those issues. What's best for our kids is best for our state and democracy. Our kids deserve the best public schools, a robust higher education system, safe roads, clean drinking water and access to quality, affordable healthcare. No matter what zip code, every single child should have access to high-speed internet, mental health services and high quality early childhood education. I've run a school, a school district and now a state agency. Im the only candidate who can hit the ground running on day one. 2. What will you do to reduce gun violence and keep our neighborhoods and schools safe? After Parkland, I asked the Legislature to pass my school safety plan which provided additional dollars for safety improvements but also provided $50 million for mental health services and grants to address bullying and violence. I would rather go to jail than arm educators. We must start with universal background checks, which over 81% of Wisconsinites support. After that win, we can look at waiting periods for handgun purchases, banning bump stocks and "No fly, no buy" legislation. 3. Do you support taking advantage of the federal funding to expand Medicaid and cover more people under BadgerCare? Why or why not? Absolutely! And it's criminal that Scott Walker has left these federal dollars in Washington DC, instead of bringing them home to Wisconsin to cut healthcare costs and provide more Wisconsinites with better coverage. There's a reason healthcare costs half the price in Minnesota as it does in Wisconsin - they accepted the federal expansion dollars and set-up their exchanges properly. As Governor, I will do both as quickly as possible. 4. Racial disparities exist in child poverty rates, educational achievement, infant mortality rates, incarceration rates, and other issues facing Wisconsinites. What will you do to reduce racial disparities throughout Wisconsin? It begins by admitting that we have a race problem. We have to stop acting like it doesn't exist, it does. That means investing in people, not prisons. Focusing on rehabilitation, not more punitive policies. We need to make investments in local neighborhoods and ensure government decision-makers, corporate leaders, educators, law enforcement and health workers reflect the growing diversity of our state. And finally, we must reject the hateful rhetoric and division that's consuming our country. JOSH PADE Milwaukee, WI 53202 NO REPLY MIKE MCCABE Madison, WI 53704 [email protected] www.governorbluejeans.com Facebook: Mike McCabe for Governor Twitter: @BlueJeansGov 1. Please describe your priorities for your term in office and your specific qualifications to effectively address those issues. Cronyism, corruption and legal bribery have taken root in Wisconsin and must be uprooted if our government is going to work for all of us and not just a wealthy, well-connected and privileged few at the top. My life's work as an independent watchdog focused on exposing political corruption and the crooked transactions between elected officials and wealthy donors. Without a very different kind of leadership and a new politics, Wisconsin can't become what our state has the potential to be. 2. What will you do to reduce gun violence and keep our neighborhoods and schools safe? I favor taking 16 different steps to address gun violence and the underlying causes of mass shootings that will make schools and communities safer and save lives. My positions led the national group Moms Demand Action to designate me as one of the nation's "Gun Sense Candidates." I've also taken the national No NRA Money pledge because we will never get anything more than thoughts and prayers after each new mass shooting as long as elected officials are paid to take no other action. 3. Do you support taking advantage of the federal funding to expand Medicaid and cover more people under BadgerCare? Why or why not? BadgerCare should be a public option available to everyone. Wisconsin must correct the mistake the current administration made when it rejected federal Medicaid expansion funds. We also need to correct the mistake made when Wisconsin opted against setting up its own state health insurance exchange under the Affordable Care Act. I would take the federal funds, establish a state insurance exchange and put BadgerCare on the exchange as a public option with everyone in the state eligible to enroll. 4. Racial disparities exist in child poverty rates, educational achievement, infant mortality rates, incarceration rates, and other issues facing Wisconsinites. What will you do to reduce racial disparities throughout Wisconsin? Racial disparities will not be reduced or erased unless we come to terms with the reality that a new Jim Crow has been constructed. It stands on very sturdy legs including voter suppression policies, mass incarceration and militarization of policing. We have to see the new Jim Crow for what it is and cut the legs out from under it. And also deal with the fact that the color of political money is white. The more unequal we are politically, the more unequal we will be racially and economically. MAHLON MITCHELL Fitchburg, WI 53711 [email protected] http://mahlonmitchell.com Facebook: Mahlon Mitchell Twitter: @MahlonMitchell 1. Please describe your priorities for your term in office and your specific qualifications to effectively address those issues. As an active firefighter for more than 20 years, I respond to my community on their worst days. When they are at their worst, I must be at my best. As President of the PFFW, I work on behalf of brave first responders to fight for fair and equal pay, safe working conditions, and good benefits. Wisconsinites deserve the same champion who will raise wages, invest in public education, reform our criminal justice system and build an economy that works for everyone - not just those at the top. 2. What will you do to reduce gun violence and keep our neighborhoods and schools safe? As a first responder, a hunter and a parent, I know that we are facing a public safety crisis. Our communities, including parks, schools and places of worship should be a safe haven from violence. We must pass universal background checks for gun sales and ban assault weapons. We must regulate the purchase and ownership of guns similar to the way we regulate the sale of cars. By working in cooperation with experts and advocacy groups, we can carve a path that leads to a safe and secure Wisconsin. 3. Do you support taking advantage of the federal funding to expand Medicaid and cover more people under BadgerCare? Why or why not? I believe that healthcare is a right.